the fourths final law
by lovenosoul
Summary: naruto is badly hurt on his birthday and tsunade gets drunk and mad and declars the fourths last wish to be a law the whole village has to treat naruto like a hero and anyone who can not show her three times they have done this die
1. Chapter 1

First off I would like to claim the idea to this story but just the idea the physical writing was all done by xSilverIvyx (http/ check out her profile she has quite a few stories and one of my poems on there well here is something MUCH overdue 

Naruto stared up at the gray, cloudy sky and sighed. It perfectly mirrored his feelings. Stormy, rocky, upset. How else to describe this day? Turning his head back to his feet, he slumped and began to walk slowly to his apartment. His thoughts dimly flitted from topic to topic, avoiding the one most pressing. Today's date… it was his…

Pushing that thought away, he deliberately focused on the road. He heard someone take a step behind him. Reflexively, he turned and pulled out a kunai in one motion, before realizing it was a stray cat. Smiling in relief, he scolded it in his head and turned back to the road.

He couldn't be too careful today though, he knew that much. Heaving another sigh, he didn't put the kunai fully away, just enough that it was out of view.

"Naruto-kun!" he heard a voice behind him.

"Hinata?" he asked, stuffing the kunai in its holster. "What is it?"

She turned an interesting shade of fuchsia, Naruto couldn't help but watch with interest, wondering if she had a separate blood supply used just for blushing. Otherwise, how could she waste all the plasma?

"Um… I… well, I mean, it's… um, uh, your birthday today, right?" She stumbled over the words.

The blood left Naruto's face, but Hinata didn't notice. She was too horrified at her inarticulateness. "I… uh… I… um… well I found out from the records in the library," she mumbled, her hands behind her back. "And I thought… well, since it was your birthday… I mean, everyone likes… um, food, you know… well… I… IWANTTOGIVEYOUTHIS!" she finally shrieked, screwing her eyes shut as if to prepare for a blow. She held out a small dessert.

Stunned, Naruto took a step back. Hinata looked horrified. Realizing his mistake, Naruto hastily began stammering apologies and took the treat.

"Oops! No! I want it… no, sorry, I misunderstood. Thanks, oh jeez. Sorry. Thank you so much Hinata. I just didn't expect, I mean, thanks. I'm sorry! Thank you!"

Hinata's face slowly heated up again, not turning quite the intensity of before, but making a credible attempt. Ducking her head forward so her bangs covered her eyes, she twiddled her fingers and made a small smile. "So… it's okay?… I mean, you didn't tell me it was your birthday. I wasn't trying to pry, it's just…" her face heated up even more, surpassing the earlier chartreuse.

"No! That's okay. I just wasn't expecting, well you know. But I'm very grateful," Naruto fumbled over his words.

"Well, uh, I'll be seeing you, Naruto-kun."

"Yeah, definitely…." Naruto trailed off, watching with puzzlement as she quickly turned around and sprinted in the opposite direction faster than he'd ever seen her run before.

What was that all about? Shaking his head, he turned his attention to the most pressing matter. The cake. It appeared to be chocolate, he decided with determination. That being settled, he decided the best course of action would be to get home quickly and consume it. Yes, that was definitely what he should do.

Naruto turned, and moved more quickly in the stated direction. He was so consumed in trying to read the icing letters on the cake he didn't notice the shouts behind him.

Something whizzed past his face, cutting his cheek. Startled, he looked up and saw a rock landing several feet in front of him. Quickly, he turned back and saw a group of highly upset people. "Oh crap" was the only thing he could think.

Absurdly, he put the cake behind his back protectively as he turned to face the mob.

Taking a step backward, he bit his lip and tried to decide the best course of action. Suddenly he realized things were different now. He wasn't the helpless child he had always been. This anniversary of the fox's sealing, he could defend himself. He could fight back. He could hurt them; make them wish they had never thought to taunt him. He could kill them.

The last thought is what snapped him back to reality. Naruto knew he would never hurt them. Using the fox's power to hurt people made him exactly what they feared. It made him why they attacked him. Taking a deep breath, he set his teeth and stood his ground. He would show them who the real monster was. And it would not be him.

Another rock flew at him, this one hitting him on his mouth. He flinched back and could feel blood salty in his mouth. He spit on the ground, red splattering the pavement. Was a tooth already loose? The mob drew closer. Seeing no resistance, it broke and became disorderly, running at him.

Unseen hands pounded him, something sharp cut into his stomach. He bit down on his lip, forcing himself not to follow his reflexes and protect himself. It was funny, he thought in a bemused way, all his life he had been trained by this village to be a fighter, but all they wanted was for him to give up. He seemed to be retreating farther and farther away from the brutality that was reality. Everything was getting farther and farther away.

He realized he was still clenching the present from Hinata behind his back. Desperately, he loosened his grip on it to more of cage surrounding it. In the midst of the violence, protecting it seemed the most important thing. He brought it around in front of him, trying to protect it from all the weapons meant for him. Somebody must have thought it was a weapon. A shout, louder than all the rest sounded, "He's got a kunai! He's trying to destroy us! He is just a monster!"

Naruto protested, startling those around him, he had refused to make a sound before this. "I'm not doing anything! Just leave me alone! I just want to go home for God's sake." His pleas infuriated the crowd, and it pushed back harder. Something heavy pounded into his side, making him gasp. He could hear the ribs crack.

He dropped the cake. Stricken, he turned, trying to see where it landed to pick it up. Something hit the back of his head hard. He saw the cake being stepped on and ground into the pavement just before everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

First and foremost 97

First and foremost 97.5 percent of credit goes to my co author silver ivy (for more info on her see last chapter) and of course 2 recent credit goes to her good karma sorry about the delay in posting this but I will have one up every other week

xXx

It was very bright. Naruto squeezed his eyes tighter, trying to make it darker. Moaning he turned his head away. Still, the light persisted. He slowly lifted an arm to shield his face. God was he sore. Why was he so sore? Trying to think back, he could only get flashes of pain. Suddenly it all came rushing back. Oh crap. His freaking birthday.

Keeping his glued tightly shut to guard against the traitorous light, he turned onto his side. Oh damn it!! Don't do that! He flipped back onto his back more energetically than he'd done anything in the past week. Damn that hurt. He probably broke some ribs. He cracked open an eye. Why was it so bright?! Blinking blearily, he finally looked up. Oh. This ceiling again. He knew this one. The hospital.

"You're finally awake Naruto-kun!" a pleasant sounding voice announced. Naruto turned his head, wincing, and saw Shizune clutching her signature clipboard.

"Yup," Naruto mumbled intelligently.

"Well I'll get Tsunade-sama then," Shizune declared suddenly, and it seemed to Naruto, evilly.

"No! Don't do that! Are you crazy?!" he yelped, but it was too late. Shizune was long gone. Naruto considered jumping out the window to his left. It appeared only several stories off the ground, and if he were lucky, he would land on his head, thus prolonging the time away from consciousness and Tsunade.

Trying to sit up hurriedly, he looked around for something to use as a shield or ladder. His sheets! Struggling up into almost sitting, he pulled at them, trying to rip them with his hands. Where were his kunai when he needed them? Glancing at the door worriedly, he swore in his head while deciding the sheets weren't going to be ripped. He tied one to the bedpost and started inching towards the window.

"UZUMAKI NARUTO!!" the voice struck fear into his bones. "JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Naruto froze and slowly turned his head back to the door. Just as he feared, a beautiful blonde woman filled the doorframe.

"Is that… SHEETS? WERE YOU TRYING TO GET OUT OF THE HOSPITAL AGAIN?!" she shrieked. "WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT WOULD WORK THIS TIME?! LAST TIME YOU ALMOST BROKE YOUR NECK!!"

Lunging forward, she ripped the sheets away from his frozen hand. "For the love of God, would you just stay in the freaking hospital until I release you?!" Naruto gulped, not trusting his voice. If he spoke, he probably would end up screeching like Ino.

"Now…" she continued, frighteningly calm. "Why don't you sit down and we'll discuss why you're in the hospital this time."

His eyes as big as dinner plates, Naruto sat down cautiously.

"Would you please stop looking at me like I'm a rabid beast?" Tsunade continued in her silkily creepy voice.

Gulping again, Naruto forced a weak smile onto his face. "How… how nice to see you Tsunade-sama" he stuttered, his voice cracking.

Sighing Tsunade put her hand on her forehead. "Okay, let's cut the crap. We both know that you never call me that. And we both know why I'm here. What the hell happened?"

Naruto looked away. "It's nothing" he muttered. "No big deal. I'm fine, as you can see, and I've been hurt much worse than this on every day missions."

"Yes, but those are in enemy territory, or working for the village! This is in your hometown! Who did it? Was there some trace of the Sound? Spies? I need to know this as hokage!"

Naruto laughed with a strange bitter edge. "No. No enemy ninjas, nothing. There's no problem, you don't need to worry about the safety of the village."

"What do you mean?" Tsunade asked suspiciously. "Don't tell me you did all this damage to yourself by tripping! You have several broken ribs, a black eye, several teeth lose, a broken femur and arm, and internal damage! This is not something that just happens."

Rolling his eyes, Naruto sighed and looked away. "Look," he said. "It's all taken care of; I'm good for a year. I promise not to cause you any trouble at the hospital… at least until the end of my lovely stay here."

"Goddamn it Naruto!" Tsunade shouted, slamming her hand down on the bedside table. "Tell me what the hell is going on! If you don't come clean, I swear to God I will make sure you never become hokage- more than that! I will make sure that you never become a chuunin!"

Naruto bit his lip. Turning his head away so he didn't have to meet Tsunade's eyes, he started in a monotone. "It's because of the fox. They've always hated me for it. You wouldn't really know, you left the village a long time ago I think, since I never saw you before getting you with Jiraiya. But my birthday, it's the anniversary of the day the fox was sealed. So especially then, but all the rest of the time I used to get beat up. Once I graduated from the academy, people started leaving me alone more. I think it's because the thing with Mizuki got around, or maybe people just don't want to be caught pushing around one of the honored Konoha ninja. But it was a lot worse when I was little. But since my birthday was, wait how many days ago was it?"

"Three" whispered Tsunade.

"Yeah. Three days ago," Naruto continued no emotion evident in his voice. "Well, they can't let that go by."

"Why didn't you ever tell me this?" Tsunade asked quietly.

"Like I said, it doesn't really matter. And since the academy it's been getting better. I really don't even think about it much."

"You keep mentioning the academy," Tsunade said. "What was it like before you graduated?"

Staring at his covers, Naruto whispered, "Worse."

Tsunade groaned. "Why won't you tell me anything, Naruto? Don't you trust me?"

"I can't remember it all. It started pretty early. But once a woman held my hand on a stove. That's one of the things I remember most clearly. Hurt like a bitch. I couldn't write for a week." He held out one of his hands. It looked perfectly fine. "But it always healed, so it's hard to remember. I just remember that one because it was my birthday too. I was hoping that she wanted to give me a present."

Stifling a sob, Tsunade leaned over and hugged him. "I'm so sorry, Naruto," she whispered.

Still looking at his hand, Naruto only went on. "There was something with a drill. I can't really remember it; I must have been pretty little. But that was a bad one too."

He sighed. "I kinda want to go to bed now. My ribs hurt like a bitch."

"Of course," Tsunade murmured numbly. She stood up and walked out of the room quietly.

Naruto lay back down and stared up at the ceiling.

Tsunade walked back to her office and burst into tears.


	3. Chapter 3

xXx

xXx

More sake. That's all she wanted. Why was Shizune being such a jerk about it? It wasn't that hard. Just keep the sake coming. But nooo "You've had too much to drink Tsunade-sama!!" It was like that was all Shizune could say.

"FINE! God DAMN it! I won't have any more to drink! Just get me a damn bill." Tsunade shouted at Shizune.

"A-a bill?" Shizune asked confused. "For the sake? You already bought it."

"No! A bill! To make a law! Go get me one!"

"I don't think that's a good idea Tsunade-sama," Shizune started.

"NOW!!"

Shizune went and got one.

"Now let's see…" Tsunade muttered, staring blearily at the small print. "Villagers must treat Uzumaki Naruto like hero… proof… three times… or DIE!" She scrawled something onto the bill, then signed it with a flourish. Thinking as carefully as someone with the amount of alcohol in their blood as she did could think, she added, "No… tell… Naruto."

"Tsunade-sama, you can't make a law now! You're completely drunk! Give that to me and rethink it in the morning!" Shizune wailed.

"SHUT UP, SHIZUNE!!" Tsunade yelled, slamming her hand down on the table. "I am tired of everyone in this damn village treating Naruto like a monster! The Fourth said he wanted Naruto to be treated like a hero! So now they have to. This isn't even my law really, it's the Fourth's. It's the goddamn Fourth's final law!"

"It's not fair," Tsunade continued quietly. "He's one of the best people I know, but people act like he's about to turn on them and kill everyone. So they act preemptively and hurt him. But he still just quietly lets them and goes on with his life. He doesn't have to! He has more power and is more dangerous than they even guess. But he does. And he shouldn't have to. And from now on he won't."

Shizune looked like she was about to burst into tears, but held her tongue.

Smiling evilly, Tsunade looked down at the bill she held clenched in her hand. "They'll treat him like a hero now…"

xXx

"Um, Naruto-kun?" Hinata poked her head around the doorway. Maybe he's asleep. Maybe I should come back later.

"Huh? Who is it?" Naruto looked around curiously.

Okay, I guess not. Just remember to follow the script. "Since you missed your birthday, do you want to go to Ichiraku's with me? My treat." Play it cool. You can do this. Hinata smiled nervously. "Uh, hi, Naruto-kun."

"Oh, Hinata! Hi! Why are you here?"

Perfect opportunity. Say it now! "Uh," she started, her traitorous face heating up, "Since, since, um, since you missed, wait-,"

Oh crap, you're screwing it up! You screw everything up! "I mean, your birthday, since you're in the hospital, I mean,"

Naruto cocked his head at her, looking confused. "Since what?" he asked.

See? He can't even understand you! YOU can't even understand you! "I mean, you're in the hospital, so your birthday couldn't have been very good."

Oh good going Hinata. Point out the obvious. Nooo…. He liked getting hurt enough to go to the hospital. "I mean, so if you wanted to have your birthday over again…"

Naruto started looking worried. Oh great. You scaring him! What is wrong with you? It's just a couple of sentences!

"I just meant, um, DO YOU WANT TO GO TO ICHIRAKU'S WITH ME?!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, trying to drown out her thoughts.

Looking vaguely shocked, Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but Hinata beat him to the punch. She slowly arced forward and fell onto the ground in a dead faint. Oh thank God, were her final conscious thoughts.

"Hinata? Hinata, are you okay?" Naruto stared down at the floor. "Hinata?"


	4. Chapter 4

xXx

"Sakura! Come here." Sakura sighed and looked up from her book.

"What? I'm busy," she yelled back at her father.

"I'm not going to ask you again, come here. I need you to do an errand for me."

Sakura slowly got up and with a regretful look at her book, walked into the kitchen where her father was waiting.

"What?" she asked in a rather resentful tone.

"Don't use that tone with me," her father snapped back at her. "I need you to do something for me."

"What?" Sakura asked, starting to be a bit curious, against her will.

"First promise you'll do what I ask," her father demanded.

"That's stupid. How do I know it's not something weird?"

"That's the point. Promise. Now."

Sakura paused, and her father shot her a dangerous look.

"Okay, okay, I promise. What is it? Jeez," she finally muttered. Why did her dad have to be so WEIRD?

"Do you know Uzumaki Naruto?" her father asked, slowly. Sakura raised an eyebrow suspiciously then nodded. Experience had taught her that if anyone was asking about Naruto, she was going to regret it.

"I need you to ask him out on a date."

Sakura stared. Her mind was working furiously and yet not at all at the same time.

"You want…. me…. to…. ask…. NARUTO out on a DATE?!"

"Yes."

Sakura paused. "Why?"

Her father sighed and looked down at a paper on his desk she hadn't noticed. "There's a new law. Anyone who can't show that they treated Uzumaki Naruto as a hero three times will be executed. As my child, if you do so for me, it will cover both of our asses.

"And you think that me going out with him will count?"  
"Yup."

"You are beyond insane if you think I'm going out with that weirdo. You know I'm on his team, right? It would be beyond awkward." She left out the part where he had a crush on her. It just seemed too personal to tell her dad, as much as she didn't reciprocate Naruto's feelings.

"Sakura, you have to. I can find things for the other two examples, but this is my last idea. If we don't have proof of this, I could be executed."

'I'd rather you were executed than have to go out with Naruto.' Sakura crushed that traitorous thought and swallowed.

"You can't make me."

"Oh I think I can," her father threatened.

'Oh I don't think so,' she thought defiantly. There was absolutely no way she was asking Naruto out. They couldn't possibly execute anyone for something so stupid. She was NOT going to ask him out.

xXx

"Hey Naruto, you want to go on a date with me?" Sakura found herself asking a half hour later. Her father had brought out the big guns… she didn't even want to think about it.

Naruto looked like Christmas had come early. Sakura carefully avoided his gaze. She felt somewhat guilty about it; she didn't think he would really take her seriously. And having to come in to see him in the hospital, that made it worse. He really looked the martyr part.

"You really mean it?" he asked carefully. Sakura nodded, still staring at her lap. She glanced up to see him slam his hands together and shout "RELEASE!"

Nothing happened. It took a couple of seconds for Sakura to understand. Then she exploded.

"YOU THOUGHT IT WAS A GENJUTSU?!" she shrieked, standing up and looming over his hospital bed.

Cornered, Naruto began looking around for an escape route. "No-no-not really, Sakura-chan," he stammered. "Just in case… I mean, it was really a joke, I mean, of course, you would want to go out with someone with my good looks and charm…"

"Is it that ridiculous, you idiot?!" she shrieked, covering up her embarrassment.

"No, no, of course not. I mean, why wouldn't you want to go out with me, I'm just that awesome…" seeing this train of logic was not getting him anywhere, Naruto paused.

"W-w-well FINE THEN!" Sakura shrieked and sat down in a slump.  
This was not what Naruto had been expecting. He looked at her carefully, as though she was a bomb set to go off. "Sakura-chan?" he asked, worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she muttered. "How 'bout it then? Wanna go on a date with me?"

Naruto paused and appeared to be thinking. Sakura was surprised to find herself nervous. 'Oh come on' she said to herself. 'He won't say no, he's been trying to get you to go on a date with him since second grade'.

As Naruto appeared to be looking out the window and considering further, Sakura found herself changing tactic. 'And even if he does say no, it's not like you care. You don't like him, you like Sasuke. But he won't say no anyways. He won't. He won't.'

"I'm sorry, but I can't go on a date with you, Sakura-chan," Naruto said quietly.

Sakura could have sworn her jaw hit the floor. He was… REJECTING HER?! What?! This wasn't supposed to happen. He had been in love with her as long as she could remember. As irritating as it was, it was also flattering. When she condescended to ask him out, he was supposed to jump at the offer.

"Wh-what do you mean, 'No'?" she asked.

"I mean, no, sorry, I can't go out with you right now," he said, looking somewhat sad.

"WHY?!" she demanded.

"It wouldn't be right. I'm not sure how I feel about you, and it wouldn't be fair to you," he said. He was still looking a bit worried, and looking at her strangely. It was almost like he felt sorry for her.

She pushed that thought away. Naruto could not be feeling sorry for her. It was not the way things were. This wasn't the way things were supposed to go. She was supposed to ask him out, and he would be overjoyed and grateful, and everything would be great. 'This still counted, right?' she thought in her head. 'Just because he didn't accept, I still treated him like a freaking hero, or whatever.'

Her dad wouldn't explain that part to her. It was weird. He kept his lips tightly sealed when it came to telling her what she was supposed to be treating Naruto a hero for. It didn't seem to her like he had done anything amazing lately.

She opened and closed her mouth a couple times, trying to think of what to say. She was so angry she could barely think. Sakura couldn't even remember the last time Naruto had made her so mad. She wanted to hurt him, to make him feel bad, like she was strangely feeling right now. It was weird; she wasn't even really asking him out, why did it hurt when he rejected her?

"Well… well… I never really wanted to go out with you anyways!" she shouted. "I don't like you, and I never will! I was just asking for my DAD! Isn't that the stupidest thing you've ever heard?" she laughed almost hysterically. Something was wrong with her voice, and she couldn't see clearly. "MY DAD wanted me to ask you out. He's the one who should be here asking you out! I hate him. I hate you! I hate…I hate…" she swallowed. Something was wrong with her throat.

Naruto was still looking at her sadly. Then he did something that surprised her. He got up out of bed, walked over to where she was swallowing and trying to keep her eyes from overflowing. She wasn't crying, she just had something in them. She was sure of that. Naruto didn't seem to be aware of that little fact. He walked over and hugged her.

Sakura stiffened, then melted, bursting into tears. "I didn't really want to go out with you," she insisted. Naruto nodded.

"Okay," he said, still hugging her.

"Okay?" she asked, pushing him away. "It's okay that I just lied to you and asked for my stupid dad? Aren't you mad? Why aren't you yelling at me? Why-why are you being so NICE to me?" she wailed.

"Because you're sad, and I hate it when you're sad." he said simply.

"But you're the one who doesn't want to go out with me…" she insisted.

"That doesn't mean I don't care about you, okay? I've just got a lot going on." he sat down.

Sakura took a deep breath and instantly felt calmer.

"What did you mean, you asked for your dad?" Naruto asked. "You have to admit, that could be taken a very wrong way."

"I can't tell you," Sakura said, feeling guilty again. She didn't feel nearly so bad now. It was probably just stored up stress or something. "I gotta go."

She turned and walked quickly out. Naruto didn't stop her.

xXx

Why didn't he accept? Naruto wondered to himself. He had always liked Sakura, and everybody knew it. He wasn't too phased by Sakura's breaking down into tears. It was really more of a temper tantrum than anything else, and he had seen a lot of those over the years. She liked things to follow plans, and he knew he had screwed up her plan. She would get over it soon.

The real question was why had he screwed up her plan? After figuring out she really was asking, and it wasn't someone playing a trick on him, he was all set to say yes. Then a strange picture had floated into his head; a small, dark-haired girl, blushing and stammering.

Why had the memory of Hinata's offer suddenly appeared to him? It was strange. He never really thought much about her, and then she had shown up in his room, acting as if talking to him was the hardest thing in the world. Why had she done that? Why did she ask him out then promptly faint? He hadn't even had time to think of an answer, she flopped down on the floor instantly after getting out the last syllable.

Maybe she was like Sakura. She had been forced to ask him out as well. 'Wow, that was a weird sentence,' he thought to himself. What was with these girls and people forcing them to ask him of all people out? Things were definitely getting stranger by the minute.

Still, he thought as he lay there, staring up at the ceiling, he had refused to go out with Sakura before hearing that she didn't mean the offer. What did that mean?


	5. Chapter 5

xXx

"Yes! I'm free!" Naruto stretched outside in the sunlight surrounding the hospital. Thank god. It always got so BORING at the end of a stay. And now he was seriously hungry. There was only one answer- Ichiraku's.

"Come in!" Ayame started, then froze when she saw whom the customer was. Her eyes darted from the bright orange in the doorway to the sign ostentatiously proclaiming the new law just out of her reach. "Naruto-kun!" she stuttered nervously. "Why don't you just sit down and I'll just grab this-". It was too late. Naruto had seen it.

"What's this?" he asked curiously, and then went pale.  

By order of the 5th Hokage, all citizens of Konohagakure are ordered to show three times when they have treated Uzumaki Naruto as a hero. If they are unable to do so, they will be imprisoned and executed. This law will be carried out without Uzumaki Naruto's knowledge, and anyone who informs him of this law will be severely published.  
By order of Tsunade, 5th Hokage.  
(Signature)

"What is this?" Naruto asked slowly. Ayame shook her head. "What. Is. This?" he repeated, his voice getting quieter. He looked back over it, his mind racing.

"I'm only asking you because of my stupid dad…"

Something clicked. "This law," he whispered. "She only asked me out because of the law. She didn't ever want to go out with me." Ayame was still looking at him, a worried look on her face.

"You won't tell, will you?" she asked nervously. "You won't tell Tsunade-sama you found out from us, we didn't mean-"

Naruto cut her off. "Sure" he said curtly. "I don't care." He turned and walked quickly out of the shop to his apartment. "Just another law to keep from the monster" he thought bitterly as he walked into his empty apartment.

"Some things never change"

xXx

Naruto had been moping on his bed for the better part of three hours when the doorbell rang. "Go away!" he shouted at it, though he knew the sound wouldn't carry to the outside. He waited; listening for the footsteps that would mean the visitor had given up. A long pause, then "Ding-dong!" Naruto sighed and got up to answer the door.  
"Naruto-kun!" gasped Hinata, turning red. Naruto stared at her in puzzlement. "Uh… why are you here?" he asked carefully.

She twiddled her fingers. "I wanted to apologize," she said stiffly. "It was inappropriate for me to bother you at the hospital and to ask you…" she mouthed the words "on a date". "And," she started again, "to come here too." She bowed. N could see her shaking and felt a little more charitable.

"No problem," he said gruffly. "I know you just did it for your dad." She looked up, surprised.  


"What?" she asked.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Don't play innocent. I know about the law. Just do me a favor. Don't ask me out on a date on behalf of your relatives again. Your clan is pretty big and it'll get old. Besides, I don't want to be bothered." He closed the door on her wide-eyed face even as she began shaking her head.

He turned back and flopped down onto his bed, trying to ignore the vague feeling of guilt crawling up the back of his spine.

This is the letter I got form my co author send me a message if u r willing to take her place

As you can probably tell, I just sent you the most recent chapter. Unfortunately, this will be the last chapter I write. I am currently doing summer school and once school starts, my life will only get more chaotic, and I have barely any time to write as it is.

I am not very good at working with another person, something I knew and ignored when I said I would try writing your story. It has only become more and more clear to me, and I apologize for accepting your offer when I wasn't the best choice.

You are a very talented writer yourself, and I am certain you can continue the story yourself, or have another writer on **fanfiction. net** help you out. I know you had a bunch of other candidates. As it is, I am finding writing your story more and more difficult, and it takes up too much of my time with less than good results.

At this point, I would like to be able to write my own stories if I have time and working on "The Fourth's Final Law" is impractical for both you and me. Thank you for an interesting and educational experience, and good luck.

-xSilverIvyx


End file.
